I give it a 7 because, even though it is a bit worn, they have everything a respectable school should have. A complete noob can show up with nothing but shorts and a t-shirt and the school will happily lend them:

a grappling gi

boxing gloves

mma gloves

headgear

kali sticks

training knives / blades (wooden or plastic)

etc

The school also has:

Thai pads

focus mitts

kicking shields

heavy bags

B.O.B.

First aid kits and hygiene-related items like nail clippers

etc

The school will be the first to admit that their mats are old but they've already stated that mats are the first thing they intend to buy once a few new students sign up.

(6-7: Respectable equipment, somewhat worn.)

Gym Size:

I give it a 7. The school rents a large room from a local community centre. The floor is hardwood but is of course covered with mats when we train. Even when everyone is present, there's plenty of room for everyone. (And, in case even more students sign up, there is another larger room that the school can take over from the community centre.)

(7: +2)

Instructor/Student Ratio:

I give it a 10. Every class is led by one of three instructors, two of whom are 4th dan and one of which is 5th dan (all three are striped (red and white) belts). During every class, every student gets personalized attention from the instructor who is leading the class and from any other instructor who is there to assist.

(10: Highly personal attention from top instructors.)

Atmosphere/Attitude:

I give it a 10. No douche bags. No attitudes. Everyone is friendly. There's a wide range of ages but everyone gets along. No cliques. Students often go out for beers after training and get together on weekends and special occasions from time to time. Students challenge and push one another to perform without applying peer pressure and without bullying. Very positive all around!

I'm giving this a 7 only because I don't know if anyone has ever competed in striking-specific competitions. My understanding is that Trident students have competed in MMA (which of course includes striking) but I don't if anyone has competed in striking-specific events. That being said, I do know that Trident has taught striking and restraining to law enforcement and military personnel for high-level self defense situations (maybe that means it qualifies as an 8?), and a full range of striking (fists, elbows, knees, shins/insteps, feet, etc) are regularly taught to all students for "sport" and for "self defense". We regularly engage in stand up sparring.

Again, giving this an 8 only because I don't know what their competition record is like. The grappling is very comprehensive and, after practicing a new move, is always done with an "alive" opponent / with resistance. Almost every class opens and closes with rolling and rolling is also conducted throughout the duration of the class to apply new techniques. Various members have competed in Jiu-Jitsu, grappling and MMA competitions but I haven't been around long enough to know who's been to what and what their records are. Trident has taught grappling to law enforcement and military personnel.

(8-9: Pressure-tested, full range grappling and proven success in limited restriction, top level competitions or high level self defense situations.)

Weapons:

I'm giving it a 5 because that's what I've experienced but I've been told that, for people who want to get into it, it's fairly common for them to go all the way to 8. Weapons training usually involves Kali sticks and simulated knives / blades (wood or plastic) for self defense scenarios.

4-5: Light continuous alive sparring (negligible pain/risk).

8: Hard contact with reasonable safety gear (pain and/or some blood)

Getting in touch with Trident:

If anyone is interested, Trident offers free 3-lesson passes to anyone who wants to try it out. (And they're not the kind of place that pressures people to sign up.) All of their information (location, email address, pricing, etc) can be found at the following links:

Can you tell me something about the history of Ninja-Ryu Jiu-Jitsu? The about us page says that Gerry Marshall left Ninja-Ryu Jiu-Jitsu to form Trident Jiu-Jitsu. What was his rank in Ninja-Ryu Jiu-Jitsu before he broke off to create his own style? What are the stylistic differences between Ninja-Ryu Jiu-Jitsu and Trident Jiu-Jitsu?

What's the deal with the red and white belts? Typically the special red or broken red belts are reserved for very high level dan ranks (7-10 dan). At what level are these worn in your system?

I also find the following information regarding your head instructor Mike Marshall very strange:

"To further his knowledge and love of Jiu-Jitsu he began studying Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu in the spring of 2010 and was a guest Referee at the BJJ Open in St-John’s, Newfoundland earlier this year. Having so far achieved his second stripe in that Art he hopes to gain his Blue Belt within the next two years and his Black eventually."

So, he was referring at a BJJ tournament while still a white belt? What exactly does guest referee mean?

The site raises an eyebrow, it descends from "Ninja JJJ"? I can see why the guy changed the name. The whole working toward a blue belt thing sounded a little funny, why not just say white belt? I'm sure it's overly cynical of me to assume it's an attempt to puff up the resume. Most other styles offer blue belt at intermediate to advanced ranks so if I knew little about BJJ and heard a guy was working toward his blue I might assume he's an intermediate to advanced BJJ student.

I'm still not clear on the lineage of the style from visiting the site. All I get is Can-JJJ begat Ninja JJJ, and Ninja begat Trident JJJ. I'm curious how many times the style has been changed and modified and what japanese style it originates from if any.

Here's a video of can-ryu which trident descends from. I hope trident JJJ is very different this video demonstrates a lot of crappling.

Yeah, the Ninja-Ryu name is one of those things that sounded good at the time, I'm sure. It's all military guys - MA'ists on the same base start playing together, and it grew from there.

Gerry Marshall is actually an FMA student of mine, so if you'd like, I can pass questions on to him. In terms of his abilities, he's a tough, skilled, old bastard - got his first dan in 1975 or something like that, and has been in constant practice since then. And, to his credit, was totally willing to be a beginner again and start training with me.

Trident Questions

Originally Posted by sweats

OK, after visiting the website, I've got some questions.

Can you tell me something about the history of Ninja-Ryu Jiu-Jitsu? The about us page says that Gerry Marshall left Ninja-Ryu Jiu-Jitsu to form Trident Jiu-Jitsu. What was his rank in Ninja-Ryu Jiu-Jitsu before he broke off to create his own style? What are the stylistic differences between Ninja-Ryu Jiu-Jitsu and Trident Jiu-Jitsu?

What's the deal with the red and white belts? Typically the special red or broken red belts are reserved for very high level dan ranks (7-10 dan). At what level are these worn in your system?

I also find the following information regarding your head instructor Mike Marshall very strange:

"To further his knowledge and love of Jiu-Jitsu he began studying Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu in the spring of 2010 and was a guest Referee at the BJJ Open in St-Johnís, Newfoundland earlier this year. Having so far achieved his second stripe in that Art he hopes to gain his Blue Belt within the next two years and his Black eventually."

So, he was referring at a BJJ tournament while still a white belt? What exactly does guest referee mean?

Do you have any video of your classes or sparring sessions?

Thanks for the interest in the Trident Fellowship. I will briefly answer your questions. There is more background on the Ninja Ryu system on their website but to summarize, it was founded by Denis St. Jean approx 1969 with his partner Jules Ladouceur. It was based upon the Can Ryu system developed by Ron Forrester. Denis St Jean trained in Judo and earned his Black Belt in the late 60s and trained under George Sylvain in Jiu Jitsu following that. Denis earned his Black Belt from Mr. Sylvain about the same time as John Therien. I trained under Denis in his system - Ninja Jiu Jitsu until injury caused him to retire in the early 80s. Denis, because of his Judo background included many of the Judo throws and ground system into the Jiu Jitsu style as well as the normal kicking, punching, controlling stuff systemic to most Japanese styles of Jiu Jitsu. Shortly after Denis retired Sensei Jules decided to get away from the professional dojo lifestyle and created a Fellowship which was non profit. This greatly helped keep the robust system intact as all the instructors had full time day jobs and did not require the funds from prospective students to live. We trained very hard and belts were not a big deal, we were a small but tight group that grew slowly and kept the integrity of our style. As people get older and their way of doing things change I found that our Ninja system was getting to be more focused on weapons training than the Jiu Jitsu which was the backbone of our system. So I left Ninja amicably as a 7th dan in 2007 after training for 37 years and created Trident which still trains in the way we did in the 60s and 70s. As for the belts Denis implemented the Judo system; black belts are worn for 1st, 2nd, and 3rd dan, red and white (with a red tip) for 4th, 5th, 6th, at 7th dan it is still a red and white striped belt but the tip is now white, same for 8th dan, 9th is solid red and 10th is solid white. Minimum time in rank is five years to black belt, 2 years to 2nd, 1 year to 3rd, and five years between each successive belt. I have pretty much retired now from active Jiu Jitsu due to old age and injury but am enjoying FMA training when time permits. Hope that answers your questions.

Yes it seems like a lot of black belts percentage wise but there have been no promotions from brown belt to black belt in the system I teach, either as Ninja Jiu Jitsu or as Trident Jiu Jitsu since 2002, a few made it to brown and a couple are still working towards black, but life sometimes gets in the way. The black belt instructors have had their belts for some time.

If you know anyone else that would like to join us, please forward them this email, let's spread the word!

Looking forward to seeing you on the mat,
Tag

I'm posting it in case anyone wants to give'em a shot at their new location at Coalition MMA! I had a really great experience with Trident (and, if I wasn't already involved in another program at another school, I'd probably sign up for this ASAP) so I figured I'd pass this message along in case anyone else wanted to give'em a shot!